All posts by ACECQA

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) oversees the implementation of the National Quality Framework (NQF) and works with the state and territory regulatory authorities to implement and administer the NQF.
Rhonda Livingstone is National Education Leader at the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). Rhonda provides national leadership, policy advice and recommendations on pedagogy and educational program and practice to enhance learning and development of children attending education and care services across Australia. Rhonda has more than 20 years’ experience in the early childhood sector, including working as a centre director, sessional academic and training coordinator, in government contributing to the development of national policy and legislation, and was a part of working groups to develop standards and resources for the NQF. Having worked as both a service provider and assessor, Rhonda has a keen interest in contributing to the discussion about streamlining processes to minimise burden and maintaining a focus on ensuring quality outcomes for children and families.

This month on We Hear You, Meghan Woods, an early childhood teacher and member of the Educational Leadership Working Group at Gumnut Cottage, located on the campus of Macquarie University in Sydney, reflects on the important role of a service’s philosophy and the key issue that might be driving practice in early childhood education and […]

Educators at Goodstart Red Hill had long admired forest kindergartens from afar, never really considering how that might look in an Australian setting. Then they realised they had an amazing and diverse environment right on their doorstep. Skye Devereaux, Early Childhood Teacher and Educational Leader, writes this month on how Goodstart Red Hill developed their […]

Being assessed and rated can understandably be a nervous time for educators. ACECQA caught up with Vashti Hicks, an Authorised Officer with the Queensland Department of Education and Training, to discuss her role and how services can prepare and embrace the assessment and ratings process. Tell us a little about your background I have been […]

The Melbourne Museum is redeveloping its children’s gallery and as part of the project decided to consult with educators, early childhood specialists, designers and health professionals to make the space as unique and innovative as possible. The initial plan was to include children at the testing stage of the project, but we helped the Museum […]

Living sustainably means living within the capacity of the natural environment to support life and ensuring our current lifestyle has minimal impact on generations to come. Sustainable practices relate not only to the natural environment, but also our society and culture, including aspects such as consumerism and community well-being. As the need for greater sustainability […]

Quality early childhood education and care services play an important role in supporting children and families in the transition to school. Lei Ding, Educational Leader at Hilda Booler Kindergarten in Sydney, writes about her service’s approach to supporting the transition. Nurturing children’s abilities to succeed in school is a strong focus of our program at […]

Julie Occhiuto, early childhood educator at UNSW Tigger’s Honeypot, shares her experience of an innovative program bringing together young children and residents from a local aged care service. Everyone has a story and this one of mine begins with an inherent love of both young children and the elderly in our communities. As a child […]

Educators reflect on their actions every day. Reflection is the thinking educators do as they are working with a child, while also observing the environment and planning what they will do next. Donald Schon, internationally recognised author of The Reflective Practitioner , believes we engage in two types of reflection – reflection in action and […]

ACECQA met Tarsha Howard, Early Childhood Coordinator at Amata Anangu Preschool, in 2013 at the NQF conference in Sydney. Tarsha had some concerns at the time that working in a remote service might be a barrier to raising the quality of children’s education and care. This month we catch up with Tarsha after the preschool […]

The National Education Leader, Rhonda Livingstone, looks at documenting learning, provides some pointers for educators and helps bust some of the surrounding myths. The issue of planning, documenting and evaluating children’s learning and the best ways of recording this cycle has been the subject of much debate and discussion during the more than two decades that […]